durbnpoisn:One day, years ago, I was driving up the NJ Turnpike. Some guy was getting off the exit ramp, and I was right behind him. He hit a 2x4 and it kicked up right at ME! It hit the edge of the hood and exploded. Fortunately, there was no damage to the windshield or even the grill.

And there was nothing I could do to catch the guy who caused the damage. I was going 70mph and he left the highway. He probably never even knew what he hit.

The point of the story is that, the board could have come from anywhere, and the driver is lucky it didn't take his head clean off!

Stupid question, but the guy who "caused" the damage was really the guy who left a 2x4 on the road, wasn't he? The guy who kicked it up presumably wasn't able to avoid it. It's not really his fault, I would say.

Charlie Freak:This is a late parrot: I don't know much about physics but, to make that hole that board and truck had to be traveling very fast.70 mph x ?

is this a mythbusters thing?

It's a one in a million hit to go through like that. The alignment of the board to penetrate the windshield (as opposed to glancing off) and the speed differential to generate the necessary force were just so.